A new approach to describe the tensile stress-strain curve of a glassy polymer

Abstract

The tensile stress-strain curve of a glassy polymer is compared to the response of a rheological system including a generalized non-linear Maxwell model. The treatment assumes that throughout the course of deformation, some structure initially present in the polymer is destroyed and that the initial spectrum of the Maxwell elements is converted to another spectrum. A law of transformation of these spectra as a function of deformation is proposed while their expression is assumed to be analogous to that of the spectrum of a structureless material, experimentally determined. Data are found to be fully consistent with the proposed treatment.